by Maggie Heineman
June 20, 2019 was a “marquee day” in the years-long fight to get equal rights for CCRC veterans and their widowed spouses.
New Jersey has a $250 Veterans Property Tax deduction program. However veterans who move into a CCRC lose that exemption, even though they continue to pay property taxes. The statewide Organization of Residents Associations of New Jersey (ORANJ) began work to correct this injustice in the law in 2002 and the legislation has been re-introduced in every legislative session since. It finally cleared all the steps necessary, and it now becomes a public question to be voted on by the residents of New Jersey in the Nov 2019 General Election.
Now the legislative effort to correct this turns into a public question because this change in the law requires a constitutional amendment.
You might be wondering now what you can do to help. Simply this: please encourage everyone you know to vote “yes” on the public question appearing on the Nov 2019 ballot. Credit for this accomplishment goes to the representatives in District 11, Senator Gopal, Assemblyman Houghtaling, & Assemblywoman Downey. They carried the ball for us..